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Red Hat Linux Advisory: sharutils

Written By
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Web Webster
Web Webster
May 14, 2002
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                   Red Hat, Inc. Red Hat Security Advisory

Synopsis:          Updated sharutils package fixes uudecode issue
Advisory ID:       RHSA-2002:065-13
Issue date:        2002-04-16
Updated on:        2002-05-14
Product:           Red Hat Linux
Keywords:          fifo symlink pipe output file handling uudecode
Cross references:  
Obsoletes:         
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1. Topic:

Updated packages for sharutils are available which fix potential privilege
escalation using the uudecode utility.

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Linux 6.2 - alpha, i386, sparc

Red Hat Linux 7.0 - alpha, i386

Red Hat Linux 7.1 - alpha, i386, ia64

Red Hat Linux 7.2 - i386, ia64

3. Problem description:

The sharutils package contains a set of tools for encoding and decoding
packages of files in binary or text format.

The uudecode utility would create an output file without checking to see if  
it was about to write to a symlink or a pipe.  If a user uses uudecode to
extract data into open shared directories, such as /tmp, this vulnerability 
could be used by a local attacker to overwrite files or lead to privilege
escalation.
 
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org/) has
assigned the name CAN-2002-0178 to this issue.

Users should update to these errata sharutils packages which contain a
version of uudecode that has been patched to check for an existing pipe or
symlink output file.

4. Solution:

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

To update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run:

rpm -Fvh [filenames]

where [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade.  Only those
RPMs which are currently installed will be updated.  Those RPMs which are
not installed but included in the list will not be updated.  Note that you
can also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory only contains the
desired RPMs.

Please note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network.  Many
people find this an easier way to apply updates.  To use Red Hat Network,
launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:

up2date

This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system.

5. Bug IDs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla for more info):



6. RPMs required:

Red Hat Linux 6.2:

SRPMS:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/6.2/en/os/SRPMS/sharutils-4.2.1-2.6.x.src.rpm

alpha:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/6.2/en/os/alpha/sharutils-4.2.1-2.6.x.alpha.rpm

i386:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/6.2/en/os/i386/sharutils-4.2.1-2.6.x.i386.rpm

sparc:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/6.2/en/os/sparc/sharutils-4.2.1-2.6.x.sparc.rpm

Red Hat Linux 7.0:

SRPMS:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/SRPMS/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.src.rpm

alpha:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/alpha/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.alpha.rpm

i386:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/i386/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.i386.rpm

Red Hat Linux 7.1:

SRPMS:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/SRPMS/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.src.rpm

alpha:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/alpha/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.alpha.rpm

i386:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/i386/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.i386.rpm

ia64:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/ia64/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.ia64.rpm

Red Hat Linux 7.2:

SRPMS:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/SRPMS/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.src.rpm

i386:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.i386.rpm

ia64:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/ia64/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.ia64.rpm



7. Verification:

MD5 sum                          Package Name
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
12f79cea5e757283428bfd5e7b0bc564 6.2/en/os/SRPMS/sharutils-4.2.1-2.6.x.src.rpm
e8af0b8d4a868cfdca38a423f58fdf12 6.2/en/os/alpha/sharutils-4.2.1-2.6.x.alpha.rpm
fb407a76a64f1ea713ed386b8201dcc8 6.2/en/os/i386/sharutils-4.2.1-2.6.x.i386.rpm
d878b93bb7fc4fe311f2bcdd94271baf 6.2/en/os/sparc/sharutils-4.2.1-2.6.x.sparc.rpm
230f45ad2b7e945fcf69c61e552b0aa7 7.0/en/os/SRPMS/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.src.rpm
79e971f91f745358513faf93c8ac16bf 7.0/en/os/alpha/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.alpha.rpm
38d89d89bb513d216b1a2a954be6d07b 7.0/en/os/i386/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.i386.rpm
230f45ad2b7e945fcf69c61e552b0aa7 7.1/en/os/SRPMS/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.src.rpm
79e971f91f745358513faf93c8ac16bf 7.1/en/os/alpha/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.alpha.rpm
38d89d89bb513d216b1a2a954be6d07b 7.1/en/os/i386/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.i386.rpm
4f9adbdbff849ee05d718e15121bafb0 7.1/en/os/ia64/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.ia64.rpm
230f45ad2b7e945fcf69c61e552b0aa7 7.2/en/os/SRPMS/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.src.rpm
38d89d89bb513d216b1a2a954be6d07b 7.2/en/os/i386/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.i386.rpm
4f9adbdbff849ee05d718e15121bafb0 7.2/en/os/ia64/sharutils-4.2.1-8.7.x.ia64.rpm

These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat, Inc. for security.  Our key
is available at:
    http://www.redhat.com/about/contact/pgpkey.html

You can verify each package with the following command:
    rpm --checksig  <filename>

If you only wish to verify that each package has not been corrupted or
tampered with, examine only the md5sum with the following command:
    rpm --checksig --nogpg <filename>

8. References:

http://www.aerasec.de/security/index.html?id=ae-200204-033&lang=en
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2002-0178


Copyright(c) 2000, 2001, 2002 Red Hat, Inc.


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Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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